The Draft Of All Drafts, Simply Mind Boggling

If someone said the Cowboys will have one draft like this, you would say it is impossible. But I was there many moons ago in NYC cheering on the greatest draft haul in NFL history:

1. Hall of Fame DT, an instant impact and generational talent
2. Three starting offensive linemen, two of who made the Pro Bowl several times
3. Three starting LB's, two of whom made Pro Bowl, one several times. The third was a solid starting LB. One LB ran a 9.5 100 yard dash and returned kickoffs as a rookie.
4. A strong safety who started only one year, 1979, but was a premier third safety who would play on passing downs and would have started on most NFL teams. He had All-Pros Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters ahead of him. He was a turnover machine.
5. A starting punter
6. A quality backup fullback, 3rd down back and and occasional starter, who came ready to play all roles as a rookie
7. A backup center and answer to a great trivia question: who was the center for Roger Staubach on the historic miraculous Hail Mary TD pass to Drew Pearson in the 1975 playoffs? The starting center John Fitzgerald had injured is right hand and could not snap well and this rookie #57 came in and became part of the legendary pass in Cowboys history. Everyone needs to see this final drive. Drew Pearson caught passes totaling 86 yards on this drive, a superman performance.

Introducing, the Dirty Dozen of 50 years ago, 1975! The greatest draft in NFL history.
MiscPassingRushingReceiving
RndPlayerPickPosYrsFromToAP1PBStwAVGCmpAttYdsTDIntAttYdsTDRecYdsTDCollege/Univ
1Randy White HOF2DT14197519887911116209000Maryland
1Thomas Henderson18LB6197519800132975000Langston
2Burton Lawless44G6197519800012282000Florida
3Bob Breunig70LB101975198403962135001210Arizona St.
4Pat Donovan90T91975198304764129000Stanford
4Randy Hughes96DB6197519800011977000Oklahoma
5Kyle Davis113C219751978000621000Oklahoma
6Rolly Woolsey148DB419751978001944000Boise St.
7Mike Hegman173LB121976198700854170000Tennessee St.
8Mitch Hoopes200P31975197700032513210032300Arizona
9000Rutgers
100Millersville
11000Oregon St.
12Cincinnati
13Herbert Scott330G101975198423768140000Virginia Union
14Scott Laidlaw356RB

The Cowboys 1964 Draft had 3 Hall of Fame Players - Mel Renfro, Rodger Staubach, and Bob Hayes.

Also drafted Jerry Rhome who would solidify the new regime of Jimmy Johnson selecting Troy Aikman and would end up as Troy Aikman's first QB Coach in the NFL.
 
Eight starters out of one draft, the 1975 Boys' draft, is clearly number 1. Nice runner-up to 1974 Steelers. Webster was an admitted steroids guy who died early because of such use. I doubt he would have made it without the roids.
Roids were rampant as I understood it back then so we probably shouldn't pretend we were immune to that.
 
In God’s Coach, his 1990 tell-all history of the Tom Landry-era Dallas Cowboys, Skip Bayless wrote that Randy White, the Cowboys’ Hall of Fame defensive lineman, started bulking up on steroids in the mid to late 1970s. He quotes White as saying he started using them after lining up against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ hulking offensive linemen. “Man”, White said, “I’d look across the line at those Steelers with their sleeves rolled up on those huge arms, and well, I had to do something. I figured they were using steroids too.”
Bummer I didn't know this. But I can't say I'm surprised. White's strength to size ratio seemed to good to be true like freakishly so.
 
That was back when the Cowboys were the only team using computers. Murchison was content cashing checks. And Brandt, Schram and Ermal Allen were allowed to do their jobs without an egomaniac mugging for the cameras.
Those computers were just adding subtracting machines basically. Most of the computer language programming revolved around organizing information or making it accessible. However, credit the Cowboys for forging ahead electronically. What is intriguing is the extent of using AI relatively recently when it comes to player drafting and analytics.
 
Randy White went to the University of Maryland at 6'4", 210 and bulked up over 4 years to 248. That is a natural, old-fashioned progression. He ran a 4.6 as defensive end. He won every defensive player of the year award in college football in the 1974 season. He was known for having enormous natural strength. In the 1977 season, his 3rd in the NFL he was listed at 260 lbs. In 1977 season, he was listed at 257. Skip Bayless' story about Randy White using steroids in the 1970's is refuted by his lack of weight gain and by Bayless' knack for false reporting, like accusing Troy Aikman of being gay.
 
LOL That is like jumping off a cliff !
JUST STOP... Jerry does none of this on his own there are 1200 employees he has a lot of management which includes a lot of scouts and departments like analytic departments and people that he takes advice from in the end does he make the final decision short but a lot of these draft picks a lot of the things that we've done were because somebody got in his ear and told him it was the right thing to do and he was listening to the football people including a lot of his assistant coaches and coaches they asked for players they talk about it they decide as a group to pick those players and every team has bad picks every team has bad rounds every team makes mistakes...

You all put Jerry on an island because you think the way he decided to be GM and owner and president and wear all these hats that somehow he's the only person in the NFL that makes mistakes and I'm telling you he's willing to take the weight for all those mistakes because everyone thinks it's just all on him it's pretty tough thing to do because he has no scapegoat he has no one to fire not really he doesn't even like to fire people.. He will do it but don't think that will mcclay who's been here about twenty years isn't the real gm around here and yes he's not doing all the GM duties he's not taking any GM credit but he along with a big department are the ones bringing Jerry these scouting reports these sheets and these suggestions and they all talk about it..

It was back then and it is now it will always be a collaboration it's not much different than a corporation they all sit around a big table and talk about these things and there is usually one decision maker that in the end can change the mind and go the opposite direction but that rarely ever happens no one can prove it but they just want to rip on Jerry..


You know some of y'all just can't quit ,can you?

you try to tell me that Dallas doesn't use analytics and computers ??? they don't have a whole department that actually does this in a bigger and better way sure it was revolutionized by Landry and his staff, but it's been carried on and developed and the computers are 100 times better now, the analytics that are in the computers ,the engineers, and the developers are better.


You realize that a lot of our phones and iPads have more memory than a lot of the computers they used back then? how slow and really they didn't use computers the way we do but they were pretty basic they might as well have been called typewriters people created flow charts, charts and graphs, and things like that to help with this stuff... I can do more on my PC right now and I don't even use it for that much of work, but I can use Microsoft 360 and all the things that come with word, excel, PowerPoint, and all of it and do so much more than they used to be able to do so let's not exaggerate...

but it is nowhere near not even close to what the Cowboys use now, the whole entire sports world uses Analytics and computers, they don't use Jerry's brain they didn't use only Jimmy's brain...

Sure, it was all Jimmy???? :facepalm:
I mean Jimmy basically forethought the whole thing ,he knew the Dallas Cowboys were going to be up for sale, and he went to Jerry and asked him to get the team, and then Jimmy did everything by himself he didn't have a shred of help from a scouting department coaching staffs And Jerry had nothing to do with it he didn't help make decisions he didn't sit in on meetings and they came to a collaboration no it was all Jimmy I mean Jimmy farted gold because he could do no wrong 0 that's right until he got the drinking and running his mouth and telling his boss he basically could go F himself and he got himself let go other than that the greatest coach GM to ever live on planet Earth he moved mountains or did he just get lucky because of the Hershel Walker trade and a lot of things fell in place and Jerry provided him with everything he needed to make sure he was successful?

It's this kind of nonsense right here talking about Jimmy like he was everything and nobody else got any credit...

it's the opposite of what you think it really was he got himself in trouble with Jerry because he did want all the credit, he was the guy with the big ego, and Jerry took offense to it, and now we know the rest of the history...

they both were equally at fault for the breakup but you don't run your mouth and talk about your boss without having a good sense that is probably going to lead to you being let go I don't care where you work unless it's your brother and even then or even your dad and even then you probably going to have to pay for running your mouth and saying negative things about your boss..

Y'all act like this guy is completely Teflon, like he had no part in all of this he was leaving this franchise in any way, and I love Jimmy Johnson for helping and I mean helping the Cowboys become who they were in the 90s...

he didn't do it by himself and he put himself in a lot of these positions to where he doesn't stay very long because he wears on people we've heard about other coaches that that do that too like Jim Harbaugh or whichever one just came from Michigan and came back to the NFL once he would be accepted again. All is forgotten...

Bill Parcells the same thing you never hear about them staying more than four to five years at any one place and he wasn't going to stay here when it was time to rebuild the man was leaving around 97 anyway and you guys don't want to admit it you think we were going to have a New England type 19 year run and that was not going to happen ...
 
Those computers were just adding subtracting machines basically. Most of the computer language programming revolved around organizing information or making it accessible. However, credit the Cowboys for forging ahead electronically. What is intriguing is the extent of using AI relatively recently when it comes to player drafting and analytics.
:hammer::welcome:

I know these people think that somehow they had a room like that look like NASA or something and even then the memories and those things weren't even as much as we have in our hand in our cell phones nowadays they act like they did big things now it was nice it definitely was a lot of forethought they were ahead of the game but they were creating flow charts and spreadsheets and things like that that I can do on my computer right now using Microsoft Word and Microsoft 360 with XL and Word and PowerPoint I could look like a damn genius right now but they act like the Cowboys now don't have a giant department that probably has 12 people in it that are all they do is analytics and print out all kinds of possible scenarios in the draft and players available players that might be available players available around the world they do this they bring this stuff to the front office and then as a group in a collaboration they make decisions they act like Jerry sits up there on a giant pulpit and just somehow it comes up with all this stuff on his own..


The Cowboys are a pretty big organization is not run by one person they have 1200 employees counting the players that's a lot of management in there there's a lot of scouts and a lot of departments includes things like salary cap experts you know Cpas lawyers they're all helping with contracts they're all doing a lot of work behind the scenes they act like Jerry just walks in and has a little notepad and slams it down on the desk and says this is what's happening today and then that's all that goes on jerry gets his way jerry makes all the decisions jerry makes all the mistakes no Jerry simply the owner and then any corporation they will have the final say in most cases but I guarantee he leans on more of his people than people think around here and a lot of these mistakes was him trusting advice he got from his scouts and his coaches these players are being taken that's a head scratcher he did not pull Taco Charlton out of his **** they didn't skip T J Watt because Jerry thought it was a great thing to do somebody told him it was a great thing to do.. That's the thing Jerry's getting advice from similar people that other teams are and that's why TJ Watt slipped so far down not just past the Cowboys past all the people before the Cowboys these departments make mistakes all the time we see it all the time or not drafted at all.
 
Randy White went to the University of Maryland at 6'4", 210 and bulked up over 4 years to 248. That is a natural, old-fashioned progression. He ran a 4.6 as defensive end. He won every defensive player of the year award in college football in the 1974 season. He was known for having enormous natural strength. In the 1977 season, his 3rd in the NFL he was listed at 260 lbs. In 1977 season, he was listed at 257. Skip Bayless' story about Randy White using steroids in the 1970's is refuted by his lack of weight gain and by Bayless' knack for false reporting, like accusing Troy Aikman of being gay.
yeah I am sick of those defending Bayless; he was never more than a bitter souless HACK on his best day
 
That draft (The Dirty Dozen) led to 3 SB appearances and 2 SB wins. The Cowboys appeared to be fading, having missed the playoffs the previous year for the first time since 1966. The Steelers had an even greater draft in 74 with 4 Hall of Famers. Randy White was the only Hall of Famer from the 75 draft.
I think we only won 1 of those 3. I just found it interesting that a team can go from not making the playoffs to the SB the following year on one draft. But it wasn't really that uncommon years ago. I would imagine it would happen much less now since they allow a lot more playoff teams.
 
I think we only won 1 of those 3. I just found it interesting that a team can go from not making the playoffs to the SB the following year on one draft. But it wasn't really that uncommon years ago. I would imagine it would happen much less now since they allow a lot more playoff teams.
Correct, only one SB win from that group.
 
Should have been at least 2.
SB X was our best shot. The Cowboys held the lead from the start until the 4th quarter. Lynn Swann was the difference. The Cowboys were playing from behind pretty much the entire game against the Steelers in 78.
 
SB X was our best shot. The Cowboys held the lead from the start until the 4th quarter. Lynn Swann was the difference. The Cowboys were playing from behind pretty much the entire game against the Steelers in 78.
Honestly, I'm still in shock the Cowboys didn't win that game.

Even after all these years.

:mad:
 
Honestly, I'm still in shock the Cowboys didn't win that game.

Even after all these years.

:mad:
They could have very easily won but that diving catch by Swann where he was falling and his 64 yard TD in the 4th quarter was a killer. He was the hero in that game. His SB catches put him in the HOF.

 
That draft (The Dirty Dozen) led to 3 SB appearances and 2 SB wins. The Cowboys appeared to be fading, having missed the playoffs the previous year for the first time since 1966. The Steelers had an even greater draft in 74 with 4 Hall of Famers. Randy White was the only Hall of Famer from the 75 draft.
What 2 wins? Dallas won in '78 ('77 season), then not again until '92. Pittsburgh got 4 SB's out of their '74 class.
 
I think we only won 1 of those 3. I just found it interesting that a team can go from not making the playoffs to the SB the following year on one draft. But it wasn't really that uncommon years ago. I would imagine it would happen much less now since they allow a lot more playoff teams.
Bayless is an idiot but it doesn't change the fact Randy White used steroids just like every other lineman of that era.
 
What 2 wins? Dallas won in '78 ('77 season), then not again until '92. Pittsburgh got 4 SB's out of their '74 class.
Someone already pointed that out. The Cowboys won one SB with that draft. I gave them credit for two. However, that draft led to 3 SB appearances.
 
Pro Bowls are a popularity contest.

How many SB's did that class get Dallas? 1
How mnay SB's did Pittsburg get from the 74 class? 4

Jack Lambert and Mike Webster made 9 PB's each.
Now they are yeah.

My fault though. Didn’t realize you were comparing it to that Pitt draft, which probably has to be considered better, possibly the best ever. Thought it was more along the lines of saying the 75 Dallas draft wasnt so great. Apologies.
 

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